Multi layered webpage tool

ABSTRACT

A system and method for creating online advertising economies of scale by maximizing quantity, applicability, accessibility and distribution of advertisements on a webpage that includes providing a tool to reside on a webpage that presents a first tier of data to a user. Upon the user selecting one of the first tier of data, the tool may expand from a passive footprint to an active footprint presenting a second tier of data in the expanded area. The expanded area includes a first and a second frame, such that, upon selection of one of the second tier of data in either the first or second frames, third tier data overwrites the second tier data in the frame opposite the frame selected by the user. The user is then able to continue alternatingly drilling down through the frames to obtain the data desired, including integrated related advertisement in various media formats.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/233,293, filed on Aug.12, 2009, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a multi-layered webpage tool, and morespecifically, to a web distributable, multi layered, data tiered, andmouse-over/out driven tool that is capable of delivering a plurality ofuser-generated data points and dynamically served advertising from oneexpanding and collapsing foot-print locatable on any web page.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Internet is increasingly becoming a primary source of informationindividuals first look to in order to obtain information, goods andservices. For example, online shopping allows an individual to virtuallyvisit a store, to view and purchase the various articles for sale, whichwould then be sent to the individual. In this manner, an individual canpurchase virtually any number of goods and/or services over the Internetwithout the need ever having to physically visit a particular location.Likewise, rather than look through a phone book or any other directoryto find information, individuals are increasingly looking to searchengines on the Internet. As a result of this shift to Internet,traditional forms of advertising are becoming less and less effective asmore individuals use the Internet. For example, rather than consult thelocal phone book or yellow pages for commercial listings, an individualuses a search engine. As a result, fewer and fewer people see theadvertisements displayed in the local phone book such that, the value ofsuch an advertisement is greatly reduced.

With the increasing focus of attention on the Internet, companies havesought ways of monetizing this increasingly important form of consumercontact. One of the primary ways of accomplishing this is to sell adspace on a webpage. Many websites, in fact, are provided completely freeof charge and derive substantially all of their revenues from sellingadvertising on their web page. For example, while news servicestraditionally sold newspapers, with associated advertisements placed inthe newspapers, increasingly individuals are looking to the Internet toobtain news. Due to the Internet's relatively low costs and low barriersto entry, many news websites are provided free of charge, therefore, theneed to derive advertising revenue is critical. However, there is only alimited about of valuable advertising space available on any single webpage that can effectively capture a user's attention and focus. This isdue to user behavioral patterns and their confines and limitations whichstem from the nature of human interaction with online digital media. Inother words, the web page designer/operator actually has limited spaceinventory available that is well placed and thus well monetizable thatmay be sold for advertising, in addition to the space needed for theprimary application of the web page (e.g., presentation of news articlesfor a news website).

Another problem the web page designer/operator(s) must deal with is theneed for more cost-efficient, user-friendly systems that presentcommercial and/or promotional information to users in a manner that iseasier for the user to obtain and manipulate, and minimally impacts orinterferes with other functions and/or visual representations on the webpage. In other words, it is preferable that an advertisement presentedto a user allow the user to obtain information about the product/servicewithout navigating the user away from the current webpage.

Still further, with the incredibly large amount of information on theInternet, consumers need relevant, comprehensive, and updatedinformation on products and services that is visibly accessible,intuitively generated, and user-friendly consumed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, what is desired is a system and method that allows a webpage designer/operator to greatly increase the amount of revenuegenerated from advertisements on a web page.

It is further desired to provide a system and method that provides amore user-friendly interface for the presentation of commercial and/orpromotional information.

It is still further desired to provide a system and method that providesfor an increased amount of advertisements to be presented on a webpagethat allows a user to browse one of any number of advertisements whilenot navigating the user away from the current webpage.

These and other objects are achieved in one advantageous embodiment withthe provision of a web distributable tool that enables at least thefollowing:

1. Thousands of user-generated targeted ads triggered by thousands ofinformation points that stem from one leveraged footprint. Theexpandable and collapsible web footprint incorporates multipleadvertising tiers by utilizing, for example, alternating layers.

2. Advertisers achieve efficiency, dynamism, and affordability due tothe tool's new and significant economies of scale. Additionally, userswho self-direct to specific information points are high value potentialconsumers for those points of interest and as such, advertisementsdirected to those users are very valuable.

3. The tool is user-location friendly as it can be placed on any site.Detailed user-driven information and relevant promotional material isgenerated by user-intuitive mouse-overs. For this application, the term“mouse-over” means the positioning of a courser over a location on ascreen without requiring the user to click on the location to activatethat location. There are no user-hesitant click-throughs and users don'tneed to leave the current web page to use the tool and be presented witha selected advertisement.

The tool is web distributable by code that may be placed on any webpage, and in any place on the web page. In one embodiment, the codepulls the tool, including its ad displaying capabilities, from anexternal server (the tool server) where the tool itself is loaded andresides, as opposed to residing on the server of the web site on whichthe tool-pulling code is placed and on which the tool is shown. The adsthemselves may, in one embodiment, reside on a separate ad server. Adserver capabilities are enabled within the tool. These capabilitiesinclude but are not limited to, for example, banner ads, video and richmedia ads, geo-targeting for local ads, multi-ads, ad rotation, livelinks, and more.

It is contemplated that the tool may be presented to a user as arelatively small footprint (passive footprint) on a webpage. In oneexample the tool may be provided as a yellow pages directory. In thisparticular embodiment, the tool may present all the letters of thealphabet to the user in the passive footprint. If the user is lookingfor “pizza”, the user may mouse-over the letter “p”, which would thenexpand the footprint of the tool from the passive footprint to a largerfootprint (active footprint). In the example discussed, the activefootprint may provide a first frame of information that includes variousalpha divided options/categories (for this application the terms“options” and “categories” are used interchangeably) for the letter “p.”The user could then mouse-over to select the alpha divided category inwhich “pizza” would be found (e.g. “Pets—Plumbers”). Once selected, thetool's next layer is launched in the second frame that's within theactive footprint, which could then display various options/categoriesfor “Pets—Plumbers”, and which could include, for example, “pizzadelivery.” The user could then mouse-over select “pizza delivery”, whichwould launch the tool's next layer which would display in the firstframe a listing of establishments that offer pizza delivery. When theuser mouses-over any one of these listings, an advertisement for thatestablishment could then be displayed in the second frame. The user hasthe option then to simply read the advertisement or to click on theadvertisement, which would then direct the user to the web page for thecompany offering pizza delivery the user has selected. In this manner,the tool provides for two different footprints, a small passivefootprint, and a larger active footprint. The larger active footprintmay be divided into two different frames that alternately displayoptions/categories and listings as the user drills down into the tool'smultiple layers to find the information they are looking for. The useris able to drill down by simply mousing-over the information and maycollapse the tool to the passive footprint by moving the courser awayfrom the tool. This allows the user to drill down through a very largeamount of information quickly and efficiently within the same footprintand without creating a large amount of cascading windows being drawnacross the webpage. Additionally, the tool contains a “restart” areawhich serves to facilitate the user in navigating the two-framemulti-layered data drilling down process. At anytime, and at any layerin the drill down process from the second data layer on, a user canmouse-over the “restart” area which results in the tool resetting itselfto prior data option/category layers, a function that assists andenables a user to change course and choose a different data drill downpath other than the one the user was on. In one embodiment, the“restart” button will reset the search process to a second data tier asillustrated in FIG. 3. In another embodiment, the “restart” button mayreset the search process to any previous data tier selected by the user.In still another embodiment, the “restart” button may function as a“reverse” button to un-drill the search process by one tier to displaythe previous data tier. It is understood that the tool provides the userwith increased versatility to both drill-down in a search process, butalso, to incrementally reverse the process without requiring the user tostart the process anew.

It should also be noted that in this particular embodiment, the user wasable to navigate to find the information desired within the tool withouthaving to navigate away from the current webpage on which the tool waslocated until after a pizza delivery advertisement was displayed in thetool and the user decided to click on it.

As can be seen, the website on which the tool is located is able toprovide a very large amount of advertising on a single web page. Ratherthan being limited to providing only a handful of advertisements orproducts information, the tool provides a multi-tiered, alternating,two-frame arrangement that can provide virtually a near-unlimited amountof advertising on a single webpage.

For this application the following terms and definitions shall apply:

The term “data” as used herein means any indicia, signals, marks,symbols, domains, symbol sets, representations, and any other physicalform or forms representing information, whether permanent or temporary,whether visible, audible, acoustic, electric, magnetic, electromagneticor otherwise manifested. The term “data” as used to representpredetermined information in one physical form shall be deemed toencompass any and all representations of the same predeterminedinformation in a different physical form or forms.

The terms “user” or “users” mean a person or persons, respectively, whoaccess data in any manner, whether alone or in one or more groups,whether in the same or various places, and whether at the same time orat various different times.

The term “network” as used herein includes both networks andinternetworks of all kinds, including the Internet, and is not limitedto any particular network or inter-network.

The terms “first” and “second” are used to distinguish one element, set,data, object or thing from another, and are not used to designaterelative position or arrangement in time.

The terms “coupled”, “coupled to”, and “coupled with” as used hereineach mean a relationship between or among two or more devices,apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems,subsystems, and/or means, constituting any one or more of (a) aconnection, whether direct or through one or more other devices,apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks, systems,subsystems, or means, (b) a communications relationship, whether director through one or more other devices, apparatus, files, programs, media,components, networks, systems, subsystems, or means, and/or (c) afunctional relationship in which the operation of any one or moredevices, apparatus, files, programs, media, components, networks,systems, subsystems, or means depends, in whole or in part, on theoperation of any one or more others thereof.

The terms “process” and “processing” as used herein each mean an actionor a series of actions including, for example, but not limited to thecontinuous or non-continuous, synchronous or asynchronous, direction ofdata, modification, formatting and/or conversion of data, tagging orannotation of data, measurement, comparison and/or review of data, andmay or may not comprise a program.

In one advantageous embodiment a method for maximizing the distributionof advertisements on a webpage is provided comprising the steps of:coupling a computer to a network, providing a webpage on the computerthat is accessible by a user computer and positioning a tool on thewebpage. The method further comprises the steps of: presenting a firsttier of data categories on the tool and expanding a footprint of thetool from a passive footprint to an active footprint when a user selectsone of the first tier of data categories, the active footprint includinga first frame and a second frame. The method still further comprises thesteps of: presenting a second tier of data categories related to theselected one of the first tier of data categories in the first andsecond frames, selecting one of the second tier of data categories inthe first frame and presenting a third tier of data in the second frame.

In another advantageous embodiment a system for maximizing thedistribution of advertisements on a webpage is provided comprising: awebsite computer having a network connection and a storage, softwareexecuting on the website computer to generate a webpage accessible by auser computer via a network connection and software executing on thewebsite computer, to present a tool on the webpage. The system isprovided such that the tool has a passive footprint when in an inactivestate and an active footprint in an active state, where the activefootprint is larger than the passive footprint and the passive footprintcomprises a first tier of data categories. The system is furtherprovided such that when one data category of the first tier of datacategories is selected, the tool expands to the active footprint andpresents a second tier of data categories that is related to theselected one data category of the first tier of data categories. Theysystem is still further provided such that the active footprintcomprises a first frame and a second frame and the second tier of datais presented in the first and second frames and when one data categoryof the second tier of data categories is selected from the first frame,the tool presents a third tier data that is related to the selected onedata category of the second tier of data categories in the second frame.

Other objects of the invention and its particular features andadvantages will become more apparent from consideration of the followingdrawings and accompanying detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one advantageous embodiment of the toolaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 1.

FIG. 2B is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 2A.

FIG. 4A is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 3.

FIG. 4B is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 3.

FIG. 5A is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 4A.

FIG. 5B is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 4B.

FIG. 6A is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 5A.

FIG. 6B is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 5B.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram for the tool embodiment according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of the advantageous embodiment according toFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designatecorresponding structure throughout the views.

An illustration of one advantageous embodiment of the tool 100 isillustrated in FIG. 1. In this particular embodiment, the tool 100 isillustrated as a alphabetical commercial pages listing, such as a yellowpages listing.

The tool 100 may comprises web distributable code that may be placed onany web page (not shown), and in any location on the web page.

The tool 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1 is shown in an inactive statehaving a passive footprint (i.e., a relatively small footprint). Thetool 100 may comprise a header 102, which displays the tool's title ortopic and may include a link for obtaining the tool-pulling code fordistribution to, for example, other websites. This link would alsoenable a user to download a desktop version of the tool 100. The header102 may have multiple data options/categories from which a user mayselect by mouse-over. When header 102 is moused-over the tool 100 mayexpand either to an introductory/home page layer as illustrated in FIG.2B, or to one of the tool's next tier of data option/category layers asillustrated in FIG. 3. The additional expanded area 104 may havemultiple data options/categories located therein. The expanded area 104will collapse if a user mouses-out of the tool 100 from any point in thetool 100, reverting the tool 100 to the passive footprint illustrated inFIG. 1. In one embodiment, the mouse-over expanding space 104 of thetool 100 supersedes and covers-up a size-corresponding part of thewebpage. In another embodiment, the tool 100 “pushes” the page away inproportion to the expansion size, generating the expanded area 104without covering up any part of the webpage.

FIG. 1 also illustrates that tool 100 comprises first tier data 106(options/categories) located thereon. In this particular embodiment,first tier data 106 comprises an alphabetical listing of dataoptions/categories that correspond to the letters of the alphabet.However, it is contemplated that first tier data 106 may comprise or berelated to virtually any type of data including, for example but notlimited to, a listing of vehicles (e.g. cars, sports cars, truck, vans,SUVs, etc.) available for sale (or for any other purpose, such as forrent) by type, make, model or price, or real estate listings, such as bygeographical location or building design, etc., or a listing of cruiseor travel offerings by destination or season, etc., or jobs available byvocation or location, etc., or any product catalogues or other inventoryor item listings, including complete local yellow page type directorylistings. It is understood that virtually any type of information can belisted in the first tier corresponding to the types of data the tool 100is to provide.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, the tool 100 is illustrated in its inactivestate having the passive (smaller) footprint. However, the letter “F” ishighlighted illustrating that a user has moved their courser over thispart of the tool 100. As previously stated, in one advantageousembodiment, the user need not click on “F” to activate the tool 100,rather, the user need only mouse-over the “F” to activate the tool.

Once the letter “F” is moused-over, the tool transitions into its activestate and expands to the active footprint including expanded area 104 asillustrated in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the expanded area 104comprises a first frame 108 and a second frame 110. Second tier data112, 112′ is illustrated in the first and second frames 108, 110respectively. In this example, the second tier data 112, 112′ arevarious alphabetic divisions relating to “F” (e.g., “Fabrics—Family”,“Farms—Farming”, etc.). However, as stated previously, this data cancomprise any type of information, for example, if the first tier datacomprises different cruise lines, the second tier data could comprisegeographic cruise destinations the user could select (e.g., Caribbean,Alaskan, Canadian, Mediterranean, etc.). In other words, the second tierdata will be related to the first tier data allowing a user to drilldown to obtain more specific information.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the second tier data112, 112′ comprises options/categories of data related to a listing oflocal businesses and advertisements under the “F” listings, such as in ayellow pages listing. Going forward two examples will be providedrelating advertisements found under the “F” listing of the tool.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the example illustrates that the user is lookingfor a finance advisor. Accordingly, the user mouses-over the second tierdata 112 “Finance—Financing” shown in first frame 108. When the coursermoves over “Finance—Financing”, a third data tier layer is launched andthe second frame 110 displays third tier 114 data options/categoriesrelated to the selected second tier data 112 (i.e. “Finance—Financing”).It should be noted that in this example, the footprint of the expandedarea 104 of tool 100 does not change when drilling down from second tierdata 112 to third tier data 114. Rather, the second tier dataoptions/categories 112 shown in second frame 110 is overwritten by thirdtier data options/categories 114.

The user is able to continue to drill downward in the listings to find adesired listing. For example, referring to FIG. 5A, the user hasmoused-over third tier data 114 “Finance advisors”, which causes secondtier data options/categories 112 in the first frame 108 to beoverwritten by a launched fourth data tier layer with fourth tier dataoptions/categories 116. In this embodiment, fourth tier dataoptions/categories 116 are a listing of various finance advisors in thelocal area. While only nine are shown, it is contemplated that anynumber may be listed and accessed by allowing the user to, for example,scroll downward on a larger list of “Finance advisors.”

In FIG. 6A, the user has moused-over “Finance advisor 6”, which in turnhas caused third tier data options/categories 114 to be overwritten by afifth data tier 118. In this particular illustration, the fifth datatier 118 is the tool's ad level and comprises specific advertisementscorresponding to any user generated fourth tier option/categoryselection, in this example to the “Finance advisor 6” selected. Theadvertisement, which can be shown in various media formats, may resideon and be delivered by, for example, an external ad server and may bepulled into the tool by ad code which is integrated into the fourthlayer of the tool 100. As an indication of the new online advertisingeconomies of scale created herein, the tool 100 as configured and asshowing in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, contains 42,120 different ad codes inits ad level which correspond to 42,120 possible user-generated fourthtier data options/selections, and as such the tool 100 as configured hasthe ability to display 42,120 different user-generated advertisements.To demonstrate, the tool 100 is configured here with: 26 (first tierdata options/categories)×20 (second tier data options/categories)×9(third tier data options/categories)×9 (fourth tier dataoptions/categories)=42,120 advertisements. However, it is contemplatedthat virtually any number of data options/categories can be provided asa function of the number of tiers and the number of options/categoriesprovided for each tier. It is contemplated that the fourth tier dataoptions/categories 116 would list the names/companies of the financialadvisors, whereas a numerical listing was provided for explanation ofthe embodiment. Likewise, where five tiers of data and dataoptions/categories are illustrated in this embodiment, it iscontemplated that virtually any number of tiers may effectively be useddepending upon the application. However, regardless of the number oftiers used, the active footprint of the tool 100 does not increase dueto the alternating first and second frames displaying the next tiers ofdata within them. This has specific advantages over, for example,cascading windows, which have a tendency to stretch across the computerscreen as the user drills down in the menu. Cascading menus therefore,are limited in that amount of information they may contain (e.g., youcan only keep expanding menus as long as you have screen room to cascadeanother menu) and cascading menus are messy, meaning that when cascadedthey leave an unsightly trail of menus across the screen that caninterfere with much of the other content on the webpage and well as withthe aesthetics of the webpage, causing distraction and confusion to theuser.

At any point in the process of drilling down into the tool 100 and fromany place within any layer in the tool 100, the user can simplymouse-out of the tool 100, which would result in the tool 100 collapsingback to its inactive state and passive footprint illustrated in FIG. 1.Another advantage of the tool 100 is that detailed user-driveninformation and relevant promotional material is generated byuser-intuitive and low resistance mouse-overs. There are nouser-hesitant click-throughs and users don't need to leave the currentweb page to use the tool. With just a few mouse-overs, a user can bepresented with detailed and deep tiered information together withuser-generated and relevant advertisements.

From the second data tier and on, here showing in FIGS. 3, 4A, 4B, 5A,5B, 6A and 6B on the left side area of the tool's header 102, the tool100 contains a “Restart” or “Reverse” area which serves to facilitatethe user in navigating the two-frame multi-layered data drilling downprocess. At any time in the data drill down process from the second datatier and on, a user can mouse-over this restart area which results inthe tool resetting itself to prior option/category layers, a functionthat assists and enables a user to change course for any reason, andchoose a different data drill down path other than the one the user wason. In one embodiment, the “restart” button will reset the searchprocess to a second data tier as illustrated in FIG. 3. In anotherembodiment, the “restart” button may reset the search process to anyprevious data tier selected by the user (FIG. 8). In still anotherembodiment, the “restart” button may function as a “reverse” button toun-drill the search process by one tier to display the previous datatier. It is understood that the tool provides the user with increasedversatility to both drill-down in a search process, but also, toincrementally reverse the process without requiring the user to startthe process anew.

Once the tool 100 ad level displays, as in FIG. 6A, and in thisembodiment fifth tier data 118 (but it could be virtually any tier ofdata) corresponding to a commercial advertisement for “Finance advisor6” (again could be an advert/promotion for anything), it is contemplatedthat the party being served by a corresponding fifth data tier 118advertisement (a particular finance advisor or company) would berequired to make a payment to the owner of the webpage on which the tool100 is located. In this manner, the webpage owner on which the tool islocated can derive advertising income for directing the user to theparticular finance advisor's advertisement. It is further contemplatedthat a second or increased fee can be paid to the webpage owner if theuser clicks on the fifth data tier 118 advertisement to thereby navigatethe user to the finance adviser's website. It is still furthercontemplated that a third or further increased fee can be paid to thewebpage owner if the user actually purchases goods/services from thefinance adviser. As can be seen, this allows the webpage operator/owneron which the tool 100 is located to dramatically increase the potentialadvertising fees collected due to traffic on its website. Rather thanproviding only a few general advertisements on a webpage, the webpageowner can now actually include tens of thousands of user self-targetedadvertisements on the same page, all within a limited page footprint,and all while providing a user-friendly resource. Additionally, theusers that actually drill down to a particular advertisement areconsidered highly motivated and pre-screened potential consumers with aparticular interest in that which they sought out, and as such, are morevaluable to advertisers. This would argue in favor of providing thewebpage operator with a higher fee for displaying the advertisement inthe tool 100 on the webpage.

A second example is illustrated in FIGS. 4B, 5B and 6B. The exampleillustrated in these Figures is similar to that disclosed in connectionwith FIGS. 4A, 5A and 6A, except it illustrates the second tier datacategory 112′ is selected in the second frame 110, which causes thealternating frames to be reversed in relation to the first examplepreviously provided. For example, in FIG. 4B the user selects secondtier data category 112′ “Floor—Flowers”, which causes second tier dataoptions/categories 112 in first frame 108 to be overwritten by alaunched third layer with third tier data options/categories 114′. Thirdtier data options/categories 114′ are related to the selected secondtier data category 112′, in this case “Floor—Flowers.” Referring to FIG.5B the user selects third tier data category 114′ “Florists”, which inturn causes second tier data options/categories 112′ in the second frame110 to be overwritten by a launched fourth layer with fourth tier dataoptions/categories 116′. In this particular embodiment, the fourth tierdata options/categories 116′ comprise a listing of various florists inthe area. While the various florists are listed as “Florist 1”, “Florist2” and so on, it is contemplated that the actual name of the floristwould be listed and provided, for example, in alphabetical order.

The user may then select a particular florist (in this case “Florist3”), which would cause the third tier data options/categories 114′ inthe first frame 108 to be overwritten by fifth tier data 118′ (in thiscase the integrated ad level, which here displays an advertisement for“Florist 3”). Again, while five tiers of data have been illustrated inthis particular embodiment, it is contemplated that virtually any numberof tiers may effectively be utilized depending upon the application andthe amount of data to be searched and the corresponding advertisementsto be shown.

Once presented with the fifth tier data 118′, the user may, as discussedin connection with FIGS. 4A, 5A and 6A, click on the correspondingadvertisement and navigate to the “Florist 3” website.

Referring now to FIG. 7, one advantageous embodiment of a system 200 formaximizing the distribution of advertisements on a webpage isillustrated as a block diagram. The system 200 may comprise, forexample, a tool server 202, that is provided with a network connectionand coupled to a website 204, 204′, 204″. The websites 204, 204′, 204″may comprise various websites operated by individuals/companies thatembed code such that the tool 100 may be depicted on the websites 204,204′, 204″. The code may then pull the tool 100, including its addisplaying capabilities, from the tool server 202 where the tool 100itself is loaded and resides. In this embodiment, the tool resides onthe tool server 202 as opposed to the server of the website 204, 204′,204″ on which the tool-pulling code is placed and on which the tool 100is shown.

Also depicted in FIG. 7 is ad server 206, which is illustrated coupledto tool server 202. The ads themselves may, in this particularembodiment, reside on the separate ad server 206 and are pulled by codeembedded in the tool's ad level (e.g., fifth tier data 118, 118′). Assuch, all ad server 206 capabilities are enabled within the tool 100 andmay flow to virtually any site that has the code that pulls the tool 100from the tool server 202. These capabilities may include, but are notlimited to: display ads, video and rich media ads, geo-targeting forlocal ads, multi-ads, ad rotation, live links, etc.

Accordingly, the tool 100 provides an extremely versatile system toallow websites to maximize advertising income without consuming a lot ofuser-friendly valuable webpage space, while at the same time notoverwhelming consumers with information or detracting from the website'sprimary function. The Tool 100 can be configured to serve therequirements or the needs of specific industries, advertisers, productsor services and their providers, website owners/operators, and othercommercial and non-commercial organizations. Tool type ortopic-different versions of the tool are configurable with changes madeto one or more of the following: tool sizes (initial and/or expandedfootprints), amount and function of layers (including ad layers), dataoptions/categories per layer, and ad server capabilities or functions.

Still further, it is contemplated that data tiers may include a layerdesignated for user comments. This layer could enable a user to enterany notes or comments and for those notes to be sent by the user to anemail address. This layer would function as a data mining andinformation management tool whereby, for example, the user can extractspecific information, organize it, or compare offerings.

While the embodiments presented illustrate an expandable tool 100, it iscontemplated that a non-expandable/collapsible tool 100 could also beused. The non-expandable version of the tool 100 would start and remainin the active footprint.

A further embodiment could include a downloadable desktop version of thetool 100 that enables users and consumers to access the tool and all itsdynamic information and advertising directly from their own computer.After being downloaded to the user's computer, the desktop version couldlaunch either the collapsible or the non-collapsible version from anicon on a user's desktop.

In addition to being web distributable (by tool pulling code), the tool100 (including its non-expandable/collapsible version) can itself beserved-up as an ad to any web site via any ad server, thereby servingwithin that one ad, for example, many thousands of additional ads.

FIG. 8 illustrates yet another advantageous embodiment of the tool 100,in which the tool 100 is provided with car searching functionality. Forexample, the alpha listing could correspond to the manufacturer of thecar. In this example, the selection of “F” as shown in FIG. 8 couldprovide a listing of car manufacturers staring with this letter (e.g.Ford, Ferrari, etc.) in the expanded area 104. It is contemplated thatthe user could continue to drill down in the tool 100 in an alternatingmanner as previously discussed in the application. This embodimentillustrates the “restart” functionality where the user may reverse orrestart the searching process by selecting one of: the Make 122 button,the Model 124 button or the Year 126 button (as one example, the firstdata tier could provide an alpha listing corresponding to the carmanufacturer, the second data tier could provide a listing of car makes(types), the third data tier could provide the car model, the four datatier could provide the car year, and the fifth data tier could providead for individual cars). As the user drills down into the various datatiers, the restart functionality allows the user to jump backwards inthe search to select data tiers corresponding to the button selected. Inthis manner, the tool 100 provides the user with greatly increasedversatility to both drill-down in a search process, but also, toincrementally (or selectively) reverse the process by one or more datatiers without requiring the user to start the process anew. While onlythree buttons are illustrated here, it is understood that additionalbuttons and functionality could be provided to allow the user to revertto any of the previous data tiers. It should be noted that, whilevarious functions and methods have been described and presented in asequence of steps (as used in connection with FIG. 8), the sequence hasbeen provided merely as an illustration of one advantageous embodiment,and that it is not necessary to perform these functions in the specificorder illustrated. It is further contemplated that any of these stepsmay be moved and/or combined relative to any of the other steps. Inaddition, it is still further contemplated that it may be advantageous,depending upon the application, to utilize all or any portion of thefunctions described herein.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particulararrangement of parts, features and the like, these are not intended toexhaust all possible arrangements or features, and indeed many othermodifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill inthe art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for maximizing the distribution ofinformation on a webpage comprising the steps of: coupling a computer toa network; providing a webpage on the computer that is accessible by auser computer; positioning a tool on the webpage; presenting a firsttier of data as a hierarchal listing of data categories on the tool;changing a footprint of the tool from a passive footprint to an activefootprint when a user selects one of the first tier of hierarchal listeddata categories, the active footprint including a first frame and asecond frame and the active footprint further being fixed in size;presenting a second tier of data as a hierarchal listing of datacategories related to the selected one of the first tier of hierarchallisted data categories in the first and second frames; selecting one ofthe second tier of hierarchal listed data categories in the first frame;and presenting a third tier of data in the second frame, the third tierof data related to the selected one of the second tier of hierarchallisted data categories, wherein the third tier of data comprises a thirdtier of data as a hierarchal listing of data categories; selecting oneof the third tier of hierarchal listed data categories in the secondframe; and presenting a fourth tier of data in the first frame, thefourth tier of data related to the selected one of the third tier ofhierarchal listed data categories.
 2. The method according to claim 1wherein the fourth tier of data is selected from the group consistingof: an advertisement, promotional material and combinations thereof. 3.The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:selecting the fourth tier of data; and navigating to a websiteassociated with the fourth tier of data.
 4. The method according toclaim 1 wherein the fourth tier of data comprises a fourth tier of dataas a hierarchal listing of data categories.
 5. The method according toclaim 4 further comprising the steps of: selecting one of the fourthtier of hierarchal listed data categories in the first frame; andpresenting a fifth tier of data in the second frame, the fifth tier ofdata related to the selected one of the fourth tier of hierarchal listeddata categories.
 6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the fifthtier of data is selected from the group consisting of: an advertisement,promotional material and combinations thereof.
 7. The method accordingto claim 5 further comprising the steps of: selecting the fifth tier ofdata; and navigating to a website associated with the fifth tier ofdata.
 8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the first frame ispositioned on a left side of the active footprint and the second frameis positioned on a right side of the active footprint.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the user selects one of the first tier ofdata categories by mousing-over a select one of the first tier of datacategories.
 10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the usercomprises a first party, the website on which the tool resides comprisesa second party, and the fourth tier of data comprises a commercialadvertisement for goods or services provided by a third party.
 11. Themethod according to claim 10 wherein the third party pays a fee to thesecond party when the third party's advertisement is displayed on thesecond party's website via the tool.
 12. The method according to claim10 wherein the third party pays a fee to the second party when the firstparty clicks on the advertisement and navigates to a third partywebsite.
 13. The method according to claim 10 wherein the third partypays a fee to the second party when the first party purchases goods orservices from a third party website.
 14. The method according to claim10 further comprising a fourth party associated with the tool and thefourth party pays a tool fee to the second party to locate the tool onthe second party's website.
 15. The method according to claim 10 furthercomprising a fourth party associated with the tool wherein the thirdparty pays a fee to the fourth party when the third party'sadvertisement is displayed on the second party's website via the tool.16. The method according to claim 10 further comprising a fourth partyassociated with the tool wherein the third party pays a fee to thefourth party when the first party clicks on the advertisement andnavigates to a third party website.
 17. The method according to claim 10further comprising a fourth party associated with the tool wherein thethird party pays a fee to the fourth party when the first partypurchases goods or services from the third party website.
 18. A methodfor maximizing the distribution of information on a webpage comprisingthe steps of: coupling a computer to a network; providing a webpage onthe computer that is accessible by a user computer; positioning a toolon the webpage; presenting a first tier of data as a hierarchal listingof data categories on the tool; expanding a footprint of the tool from apassive footprint to an active footprint when a user selects one of thefirst tier of hierarchal listed data categories, the active footprintincluding a first frame and a second frame; presenting a second tier ofdata as a hierarchal listing of data categories related to the selectedone of the first tier of hierarchal listed data categories in the firstand second frames; selecting one of the second tier of hierarchal listeddata categories in the first frame; and presenting a third tier of datain the second frame, the third tier of data related to the selected oneof the second tier of hierarchal listed data categories, wherein thethird tier of data comprises a third tier of data as a hierarchallisting of data categories; selecting one of the third tier ofhierarchal listed data categories in the second frame; and presenting afourth tier of data in the first frame, the fourth tier of data relatedto the selected one of the third tier of hierarchal listed datacategories; wherein the user selects one of the first tier of datacategories by mousing-over a select one of the first tier of datacategories; wherein the tool automatically collapses to the passivefootprint when the user mouses-out of the tool.
 19. A system formaximizing the distribution of information on a webpage comprising: awebsite computer having a network connection and a storage; softwareexecuting on said website computer to generate a webpage accessible by auser computer via a network connection; software executing on saidwebsite computer, to present a tool on said webpage; said tool having afootprint; said footprint comprising a first tier of data as ahierarchal listing of data categories, wherein said tool changes from afirst state to a second state when one data category of said first tierof data categories is selected, said tool presents a second tier of dataas a hierarchal listing of data categories that is related to saidselected one data category of said first tier of data as a hierarchallisting of data categories; said footprint comprising a first frame anda second frame and said second tier of hierarchal listed data ispresented in said first and second frames; wherein when one datacategory of said second tier of data as a hierarchal listing of datacategories is selected from the first frame, said tool presents a thirdtier data that is related to said selected one data category of saidsecond tier of data as a hierarchal listing of data categories in thesecond frame; wherein said third tier data comprises a third tier ofdata as a hierarchal listing of data categories and when one of thethird tier hierarchal listed data categories is selected, a fourth tierdata is presented in the first frame; wherein the tool reverts to thefirst state when the user mouses-out of the tool, selects a restartarea, selects a location outside the footprint or combinations thereof.20. The system according to claim 19 wherein said fourth tier data isselected from the group consisting of: an advertisement, promotionalmaterial and combinations thereof.
 21. The system according to claim 19wherein when the fourth tier data is selected, the user computer isnavigated to a website associated with the fourth tier data.
 22. Thesystem according to claim 19 wherein said fourth tier data comprises afourth tier of data as a hierarchal listing of data categories, and whenone of the fourth tier hierarchal listed data categories is selected, afifth tier data is presented in the second frame.
 23. The systemaccording to claim 22 wherein said fifth tier data is selected from thegroup consisting of: an advertisement, promotional material andcombinations thereof.
 24. The system according to claim 22 wherein whenthe fifth tier data is selected, the user computer is navigated to awebsite associated with the fifth tier data.
 25. The system according toclaim 19 wherein said tool has a passive footprint when in an inactivestate and an active footprint in an active state, where the activefootprint is larger than the passive footprint, said passive footprintcomprising the first tier of data as a hierarchal listing of datacategories, wherein when one data category of said first tier of datacategories is selected, said tool expands to the active footprint andwherein the first frame is positioned on a left side of the activefootprint and the second frame is positioned on a right side of theactive footprint; wherein the first state is the inactive state and thesecond state is the active state.
 26. The system according to claim 25wherein the tool automatically collapses to the passive footprint whenthe user mouses-out of the tool.
 27. The system according to claim 19wherein the user selects one of the first tier of data categories bymousing-over a select one of the first tier of data categories.
 28. Thesystem according to claim 19 further comprising a tool computer having anetwork connection and a third party computer having a networkconnection, wherein the third tier data is pulled from the third partycomputer through the tool computer and presented on the website computervia the tool.
 29. The system according to claim 19 wherein the usercomputer is operated by a first party, the website computer on which thetool resides is operated by a second party, and the fourth tier of datacomprises a commercial advertisement for goods or services provided by athird party from a third party computer via a network connection. 30.The system according to claim 19 wherein said tool further comprises areverse button, such that, when the user selects the reverse button, thecurrent tier of data categories the user is presented with isoverwritten with the previous tier of data categories allowing the userto reverse the selection of data categories process tier by tier. 31.The system according to claim 19 wherein said tool further comprises arestart button, such that, when the user selects the restart button, thecurrent tier of data categories the user is presented with isoverwritten with the second tier of data categories.
 32. The systemaccording to claim 19 wherein said tool further comprises a reversebutton, such that, when the user selects the reverse button, the currenttier of data categories the user is presented with is overwritten with aselected previous tier of data categories allowing the user to reversethe selection of data categories process to a selected previous tier ofdata categories.
 33. The system of claim 19 wherein the footprint isfixed in size.